Hiranandani Foundation School, Thane

English Literature
Term II
Std: VIII Date: 27-09-21
Summary: Throwing a tree
- Thomas Hardy
‘Throwing a Tree’ is poem written by Thomas Hardy, a poet known for his love
and respect towards nature. In this poem, he describes the ruthless cutting of a
proud two-hundred-year-old tree, in not more than two hours. The poem begins by
calling the two men, Job and Ike who are going to bring down a tree as
executioners, highlighting and bringing in a sense of massacre and the act of
cruelty displayed by the men towards the tree. Executioner is a person appointed
by the judiciary, who does the dark work of carrying out the death sentence on
prisoners. The poet begins by drawing a similarity between the woodcutters by
calling them executioners and thus setting the tone of the poem. Killing a tree is no
less than killing a person. After all both are living things and both deserve to live.
The poet is very graphic in his description of the entire event, where he describes
the details of the scene. He describes the axes, which have shining heads and the
saw as ‘long limp two handled’ and ‘toothed’. These instruments will be used to
‘cut the cord’ of the tree from its roots. Unfortunately, the tree which until now
stood proudly, offering shade to all those who passed by, is now bearing a death
mark on its head, like a death penalty given to someone and now has only a few
moments to live.
The poet further explains the scenario, how the two ‘executioners’ actually
commit the crime. They remove their jackets, get to work, and strike at the tree,
just above the ground, where the tree is still strong. They keep striking, one after
another until they have finally made a broad wound in the bark of the tree. The tree
is still strong but weakened due to the gash cut around the tree. They realise that
bringing the tree down would be easy now. They take a rope, and hook it upwards
until the head of the tree is trapped in the noose. They then begin to cut using the
saw, until the mighty tree begins to shiver. The effort and time required to bring
down the tree are explained in the lines “The shivers are seen to grow greater with
each cut than before: They edge out the saw, tug the rope; but the tree only
quivers” which shows that the tree was in the prime of its life. Alas! Finally, they
are successful and the tree falls at their feet, reaching the end of “its long staying
powers”. And when the tree crashes to the ground, the huge tree moves the entire
neighbourhood, brings a tremble in the lives of their people around it, because
now, the trees absence will be felt. The poem ends by drawing a contrast between
the short amount of time that these two executioners take to bring down a tree that
has been there even before their grandfathers were born, thus dismissing the
service of the tree to satisfy their selfish needs. The contrast between two hundred
years’ growth and the speed of its ending is stressed to point out the lack of time
the men took to bring down the two-hundred-year-old legacy of the tree through
repetition in ‘two hundred’ and ‘two hours’.
The poet has used poetic devices like personification when he explains how the
tree shivers in the line “till the top of the tall giant shivers”, ‘living mast sways and
shouts’ giving the human attribute of shivering to a tree. The poet also uses
metaphor when he compares the tree to a mast and the woodcutters/ tree cutters to
executioners
Hardy uses a lot of technical language in explaining how the tree is brought
down, presenting his expertise in the field. The details are very exact, displaying a
lack of emotion, hurt and pain, to exemplify how the two men, the executioners,
did not have any feelings of guilt, remorse or empathy. The poem is unfeeling
because the men who bring down trees in reality are unfeeling. The poet
emphasizes on the grandeur of the tree in several words repeatedly, underlining
how a beautiful sturdy tree is brought down by us, inhumane humans.
“Throwing a tree” is about realising the repercussion of our actions when we
mercilessly cut down trees, and an effort help people realise the harmful effects of
deforestation.

I] Reference to context:
The tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours throughout,
And two hundred years' steady growth has been ended in less than two
hours.

a. Who does the poet refer to as neighbours? Why does the poet say it shakes
its neighbours throughout?
The poet refers to humans and the other trees in the surrounding as
neighbours of the tree. A tree provides shade, fruits, rains to humans.
When the tree is brought down, nobody would be affected much more
than man. Throughout signifies that each and every ecosystem will be
impacted if the trees are not saved.
The neighbouring trees are also fearful that they will also meet with the
same fate.

b. Which figure of speech is used in the above lines?

The poet has used in the above lines Repetition.

c. The poet says ‘two hundred years' steady growth has been ended in less than
two hours’. What does the poet mean by steady growth? What is the
significance of the word ‘two’?

The poet describes the tree using the words steady growth, to show the
readers that the tree was strong, flourishing and growing beautifully.
The poet uses the word ‘two’ to draw a contrast between the passage of
time. The poet shows how the grandeur of a two-hundred-year-old tree
was reduced to dust in no time. The word ‘two’ points towards the
legacy established by a long standing tree initially, and later it shows the
time taken by the two executioners to destroy something so important.
The poet highlights the age-old tale, that it takes ages to build
something, but a single moment is enough to bring it all down.
II] Answer the following questions:
1. Who are Job and Ike?
 Job and Ike are two men who have set out to cut down a tree. The poet
refers to them as “executioners” in the poem.

2. How do Job and Ike bring down the tree?

Job and Ike are the two men who are trying to bring down the tree.
They walk to the forest with axes and saws all prepared to pull down the
tree which has been marked to be hewn. They remove their jackets and
begin working, hitting the tree just above the ground over and over
again until it is wounded all around. They then tie a rope in a loop and
trap the head of the tree in it. Then, they keep cutting the tree using
their saws and keep tugging at the rope, until finally the tree starts
swaying, like the flag on the mast of a ship. Eventually, after they have
cut the tree enough that it is unable to stand steadily, it comes crashing
down, with a shout.

***********************************************************